Federal Legislative Action Alert

Urge Senators to Pass the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act

Your help is urgently needed to protect unborn children and women from late-term abortion. The Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act passed the House on October 3. Attention now turns to the Senate. Please contact your Senators immediately and urge support and a vote for this life-saving legislation.

There is substantial medical evidence that an unborn child can experience pain at least by 20 weeks after fertilization. Therefore, this bill, which was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R-SC) on October 5 as S. 1922, asserts a compelling governmental interest in protecting unborn children from this stage. With limited exceptions, S. 1922 makes it unlawful to perform or attempt to perform an abortion if the probable post-fertilization age of the unborn child is 20 weeks or greater.

Cardinal Dolan, Chairman of the Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, has called on Congress to support this common-sense abortion policy reform. In an October 17 letter to senators, he pointed out to lawmakers that “[a]lthough we want, and will continue to work for, protections in law for human life from the beginning of its existence, for several reasons we think the proposed ban on abortion at 20 weeks after fertilization is a place to begin uniting Americans who see themselves as “pro-life” and as “pro-choice”. The Cardinal also pointed out that late-term abortion, in addition to being repulsive to “all decent and humane people” poses “…serious dangers to women – as evidenced by a disturbing number of news stories about the death or serious health complications of women undergoing such procedures.” You can read the Cardinal’s full statement here.

Suggested Actions to Take Immediately:

Send a message today urging your senators to support S. 1922 and call for a vote. Click here to send your message by email or Twitter, or if you prefer to call, you will find your member’s phone number and a suggested phone script.

Share this alert with your friends and family. Copy this link and paste it in an email encouraging everyone you know to contact Congress.

If you use social media, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @HumanLifeAction and like and share our posts across your platforms.

Suggested Message:

For Senators who are co-sponsors:

“Thank you for co-sponsoring S. 1922. Please continue to support the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, oppose all weakening amendments, and call for a vote. This bill represents a common-sense and widely-supported reform of abortion policy.”

For Senators who have not co-sponsored:

“Please support and co-sponsor the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (S. 1922), oppose all weakening amendments and call for a vote. This bill represents a common-sense and widely-supported reform of abortion policy.”

Background:

On May 13, 2015 an identical bill passed the House of Representatives. However, the measure failed in the Senate. In the current Congress, H.R. 36 was introduced by Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) on January 3, 2017. A vote on the measure succeeded on Tuesday, October 3 (237- “yes” to 189-“no”, 7 not voting. “Yes” was a pro-life vote). Cardinal Dolan expressed the bishops’ support for the measure to the House and then again in an October 17, 2017 letter to the Senate. The full message may be viewed here . To see the text of S. 1922 and view the current list of co-sponsors click here.